Implementing Cash Flow and Grant Forecasting

FinOps Impact Accelerator Stage: Stage 2.

★★★★★

“The flow of financial information is the best we have ever had”

– Board Member & Trustee

A non-profit organisation supporting community initiatives through strategic grant-making needed a precise view of cash flow.

This would ensure timely payments to grantees and optimised financial decision-making to improve treasury returns and management of reserve balances..

Challenges faced:

Needed a cash flow forecast.

Grant payment timelines required forecasting.

Treasury and investment management processes and policies were due to be updated.

How we helped

By implementing Stage 2 solutions and accelerating closer towards Stage 3.

Automated grant payment processes freeing up funding team capacity to focus on relationships.

Built a live 3-year cash flow forecast enabling effective treasury management and risk mitigation.

Delivered a new investment policy, documented financial processes, and enhanced Committee and Board reporting.

Impactful Outcomes

Decreased grant payment variances

With a live cashflow forecast, grant payment variances were tracked and reduced month on month.

Increased treasury returns

Improved foresight over cash and closing balances allowed for proactive decision making which improved returns.

Happy trustees

The quality of financial reporting at trustee level improved significantly, supporting strategic decision-making.

So, what are their next steps?

Since implementing Stage 2 solutions, the foundation is now on an exciting trajectory to becoming a Stage 3 organisation. Here’s what they are working on next:

Integrating accounting and grant management softwares for optimised data flow.

Automation of manual financial tasks and process elements.

Refining grant data to extract trends using data analytics and visualisation tools such as PowerBI.

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